The Final Installment of The Hobbit Trilogy Gets a New Title

Peter Jackson announced on his Facebook today that The Hobbit:There and Back Again will no longer be the title of the last of the Hobbit films. Instead, it’s been changed to The Hobbit:The Battle of Five Armies.

Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo’s own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we’ve gone along. “There and Back Again” felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo’s arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived “there” in the “Desolation of Smaug”.

When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.

And so: “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” it is.

The fans’ views on this change are varied, to say the least. But Jackson still feels as though There and Back Again encompasses Bilbo’s journey as a whole, and could still be used in the future on Hobbit trilogy box sets.

Jackson says they’re hard at work editing the final film, which hits theaters this December. He also mentions that the extended version of Desolation of Smaug is getting its finishing touches, with more than 25 minutes of previously deleted scenes added.

How do you feel about the change? Do you think they should have stuck with There and Back Again, or do you think they should have gone with the rumored title change Into the Fire?